It Follows: A Horror Classic For Sexually Obsessed Millennials

With a premise that somewhat reeks of a bad, anti-sex propaganda film meant to frighten young teenagers, It Follows is a highly stylized and rather creepy horror film that perfectly embodies the timeless notion of sexual anxiety. While maintaining a lot of anonymity, viewers aren’t sure the setting other than Detroit. Modern technology is obsolete and everything feels dated twenty years. Not revealing everything about the setting keeps audiences focused on the characters, plot, and dialogue.

After a not-so-innocent sexual encounter Jay (Maika Monroe from the under-appreciated thriller The Guest) is told from Hugh (Jake Weary) infected by a supernatural presence that will stalk and kill whoever was transmitted…unless they have sex with someone else. This “Spiritually Transmitted Disease” reeks havoc on Jay’s life effecting her schooling and relationships.  Yes, this is as preposterous premise as a horror movie can get, but a lot of this works to effective measure. After all, the awkwardness of adolescence is truly horrific. Millennials: Welcome to your classic horror film.

The strongest element to It Follows is establishing the mood and director David Robert Mitchell masterfully accomplishes this. Maintaining tension with the audience is vital for any thriller. Many times horror movies lose steam and resorting to cliches. Yet like the strangers lurking in the background hunting down the protagonist, It Follows keeps going. The film-making here is top-notch horror with a spellbinding opening scene to the very ludicrous climax. Elements of direction are on par with John Carpenter’s Halloween in setting up wide angle shots from a stalker’s perspective on our characters as something sinister is lurking. The Disasterpiece score is breathtaking and, at times, panic inducing. Reminiscent of an unsettling combination between the screeching instrumentals of Psycho infused with the neo-wave, synthesized beats from Drive, the music perfectly sets the tone of impending doom. An awards season that truly rewards artistic merit over playing sentimental favorites should seriously consider this musical composition later this year.

Weeks after viewing, It Follows still lingers in my mind. That is impressive considering I watched about 15 movies at SXSW Film Festival including the terrifying The Nightmare. I really want to watch it again and believe it will hold up as a cult classic if not a capital C one. After trailing the festival circuit from Cannes to Fantastic Fest to Sundance, it developed a cult following and a somewhat divisive reaction. Most people love it, but the haters HATE this movie! Decide for yourself. The studio Radius was going to send this to VOD after a limited engagement but decided to open it wide release (on 1200 screens). It will be likely playing nearby. Seek out this movie. This is a chance for audiences to support an original movie and a low budget indie feature. Opportunities like this don’t happen often.  It Follows establishes Radius as a studio on par with Dimension Films from the 1990’s that made hits like Scream and The Faculty. Harvey Weinstein should be very proud.